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Daily Links: Allergy Attack Edition

Yikes! Allergies! I came home from marathon training today to work in the yard. But the moment I began to mow the lawn, I was floored by a terrible sneezing attack and a drippy nose. I took some Claritin, but it didn’t really help. Instead, I spent a warm afternoon in utter misery, doing my best to complete our outside chores before the Oregon rain returns. We did get our berry canes tied up, though, and that’s most important. Half an hour of work now means weeks of fresh blackberries and raspberries later in the summer.

When I came inside to escape the pollen (from the magnolia next door? I’m not sure…), I browsed the web reading interesting personal finance stories like these:

First, I’ve been debating the need for a safe deposit box. Do people actually us these? Jean Chatzky at MSN Money has an article from 2004 about why you might want to use a safe deposit box, and what to put in it. I worry that there’s a huge barrier to trying to store important documents away from home. I think I’d rather purchase a fire-retardant safe. But is that even necessary?

At Wise Bread, Lynn Truong writes about how to save $0.54 per gallon on gasoline. It’s been a long time since I covered fuel efficiency tips, but Truong’s advice is always near the top of the list: slow down. Most of us know this already, but old habits die hard.

Thanks for including my article, J.D. Hope you get the best of those allergies here soon. Every time I mow the lawn it takes at least two days to fully recover thanks to my seasonal allergies. Singulair daily, overhydrating, and Claritan on yard days usually does the trick.

I must respectfully disagree with your statements on not keeping a safety deposit box. For a small fee (our’s is less than $50) we put our house deed, car titles, birth certificates, small valuables (coins in our case), and other legal documents for our business.

What’s the chances of a fire happening at your bank and your house at the same time. No thanks, I would consider our box $50 well spent.

We also have a fire-safe at home, however from the research I had done about them several years ago, I would not expect any documents to survive completely intact. In most cases, the manufacturer only says it is fire-retardant for a short period of time, and even then your documents may be darkened or charred.

Also, if you use it a lot – there is the off chance you may leave it open at the wrong time.

Jennifer, I can see the value of safe deposit box — that’s why I’m looking at the possibility. I just know that I’m a lazy guy. I’m worried that I wouldn’t use it. Is the $50 an annual fee? Or one-time only?

Claritin doesn’t work for me either, I’ve tried everything and Allegra is the only thing that works. It’s generic now, as Fexofenadine. It’s a miracle drug, I suffered from allergies for my whole life until I tried Allegra, I took it for one summer and my allergies never returned. That’s not how it’s supposed to work, but what the hell, I’m very happy it did work that way.

No, I’m not a drug spammer, I have no connection to the drug companies in any way (except as a consumer). Just a recommendation from another allergy sufferer.

We had one for a year or so without using it. We eventually put some stuff in there, but never really used it like we had planned. I still think it’s a good idea, however. As Jennifer says, the odds of a disaster befalling both your home and bank are quite slim, so it’s a great backup. Just don’t be lame like us and fail to use it. My best advice would be to gather up all the stuff that you want to put into it *before* going to the bank to rent the box, and your stuff with you. Otherwise there’s a good chance that you’ll never make the second trip to put stuff in your box.

If you want to try something non-medicinal for allergies, I might recommend using a neti pot daily. It took me a few years to give it a try since the thought of pouring water in my nose was . . . unpleasant, to say the least, but it does make a significant difference, or for me, anyway.

There is an annual fee for the box. Our bank is the same as where we do our banking. Our box is #2 on the pricing scheme. We had #1 (smallest size they offer) for a couple of years, but once we got that ginormous house deed we had to size up to #2. It is about 20″x12″x3″. Enough room for most of our important documents.

I guess it was ingrained in me at at an early age that the first thing you do as an adult is get a box at the bank. My husband comes from that background too I guess.

Another thing to consider is security. In Iowa we don’t have much home break-ins but I would hate to have all my car titles in the wrong hands. When doing our closing on our house our lawyer *strongly suggested* investing a safety deposit box because those documents are very expensive to replace.

As far as access goes, it’s not too bad. Our bank is about 10 blocks away. You have to go in there during business hours (duh). You say you want to get in your box, show them your key, they show you their key, they make a mark in your bank file with the date of when you accessed. Then you get into vault, put in your key, they put in their key, and presto you get into your box. They don’t limit you on time, but it usually takes us less than 5 minutes to get in and out.

I guess that small time inconvenience is not a deal breaker for me. I like peace of mind. I really don’t see any reason why someone shouldn’t have a box. Everyone has a birth certificate and car title.

And no I don’t work for a bank just in case you’re wondering. I’m moving to a credit union the first chance I get.

As for allergies – I never had them until I moved to Memphis (I was a southerner before then too, but Memphis is like being on a different planet.). Anyway Claritin (when it was prescription) first worked for me. But I would build up a tolerance and had to switch to Flonase. Then I built up a tolerance to it. So I basically switch between several medications as I build up tolerances and other ones wear off. In other words, there is no perfect allergy med for anyone. It’s a lot like anti-depressants or insulin – you have to try several to see the one best for you. I’ve talked to other allergy sufferers and they’ve had similar experiences. So keep going to your doctor and you guys will eventually hit on the right thing for you.

I also have a fireproof box – I keep the following things in it

some extra cash – about $100 worth of small bills in case the power goes out and I need to buy stuff – think hurricanes and severe storms that knock out the power for days – very handy to have small bills

SS cards

titles to the cars, home

birth cert., marriage cert

passports

a savings bond (I think I need to clean this thing out more often)

actual stock certificates – from the days before everything was electronic

a CD backup of my computer

piece of paper with credit card #’s , bank accounts, insurance accounts, investment accounts, etc. (This info would come in handy if we had a fire, but also if something happens to me my husband has all this info in one place – this is one way to cope with a spouse who has no idea about your financial picture)

I would like to advocate not bothering with a fire-safe box. I experienced a total-house (well, apartment) fire last year, and guess how much heat a fire-safe box can tolerate? Not much. The temperature of the fire burning was estimated around 2500 degrees fahrenheit, and the max heat the box can tolerate falls severely short of that. Also, whatever doesn’t get destroyed by the fire will probably be destroyed by the water or flame retardant used to put out the fire.

I don’t have a safety deposit box, but I also don’t really have any irreplaceable documents – no clue where my real birth certificate is, lost my passport a good 5 years ago, no car or house title. If I had titles, I would get a box. If I was just protecting birth certificates, passports, social security cards – I have replaced all of these for minimal cost and effort.

The real value of a safe deposit box for us is that even a modest-sized box will hold one of the new USB portable hard drives along with our various important papers. My computers and my work output from them (audio production and archiving) are critical enough to consider the cost of two mini-drives (a backup swapped every month) and the annual fee for the box to be pretty cheap insurance against catastrophe – electronic or otherwise. Plus our Quicken backups and Excel budget sheets are on there too.
BTW, our box is at a close-by WaMu branch and the annual fee is $30, discounted by $5 if you let them auto-debit the renewal.

The saftey deposit box is worth it. We have everything in there. When the boys turned 18 we put them on as signers so they could retreive their birth certificates, social security cards, and passports as needed. They also know that if something happens to my husband and me they can open the box and retreive everything they need to administer to our estate.

As far as the allergies, I suffered from hay fever. An old farmer told me to take a tablespoon of local bee pollen everyday and I would build up my immunity. I found a local beekeeper and after a season of taking pollen, I only needed to take a weeks worth at the start of the followig seasons. Now I don’t have allergies at all. Maybe it has to do with the seven year cycle mentioned above.

It’s worth noting that if you keep stock certificates in your safe-deposit box, the annual fee is tax-deductible. One thing I keep in the box is photos of all the rooms in my house — if the house goes up in flames, I have proof of the contents for insurance. I also have some heirlooms I don’t want to leave around the house, as well as complete financial records.

In the fire retardant safe, we keep a weekly backup of my husband’s work computer. The computer itself is fifty miles from the fire retardant safe.

In the safe deposit box, we keep a few small treasures from my mother and father (who died years ago), about a 2″ stack of family snapshots, and all the important personal documents, such as the household inventory, marriage certificate, etc.

Ultimately, a fire-retardant safe is not fire or theft proof. Having an off-site storage place for these items provides peace of mind well worth the annual fee.

@KC: A CD is all it takes to backup your computer? You either have a computer circa 1980s or don’t have a lot of electronic documents. My digital photos are already over 30GB.

I do not have a safety deposity box. Everyone makes the argument about your home and the bank not being on fire at the same time. But what if it is the bank that is on fire?

I scan my important documents to PDF, and store copies in several online locations ( password protected and encrypted ). As long as I can get to a computer ( we don’t live in the desert or a wilderness ) ….

For allergies: when Claritin stopped working for me, I tried to find something a little more natural to use. Using the neti pot twice a day is like magic (and I don’t find it that unpleasant – it’s odd, but not painful). Also, nettle tea is a long-used herbal remedy, with almost no side effects (e.g., it is a mild diuretic – you can find medical research and side effect info if you do a google search) and you’ll feel an immediate effect in your allergy response – it’s perfect for when dust or pollen reactions suddenly occur. (You can also try nettle tinctures or freeze-dried capsules.)

Not only are these methods 100% chemical-free and therefore much easier on your body, but they are also much cheaper solutions than OTC or prescription meds!

quick note about Claritin: my doctor is quick to point out that Claritin is a prophylactic, not a symptom reducer. Meaning, don’t take it when you get a runny nose, start taking it at the beginning of spring when you feel fine. It’s also not that effective by itself- you need to combine it with a neti pot, or if that doesn’t work, a nasal steroid.

Too many people think allergies are just this thing they get every year, and try to tough it out. Don’t be that guy! There’s lots of good therapies. Go to your doctor and ask for help.

I find that taking vitamin C has helped with my allergies. I take about 2000 mg before bed and have not had to take anything else for over 2 years. I get a stuffy nose when I am around smokers and so I put Vicks Vaporub under my nose before going to bed.

Alegra worked best at one time but then insurance would not cover it once Claritin became over the counter. Claritin made me too drowsy so I would take it before bed and feel ok the next day but still not full of energy.

I have a small Safe deposit box at WAMU which can fit several DVDs but I mainly use it for my SSN card/passport,etc. I heard that some people keep important papers and emergency cash in a ziploc bag stashed in the freezer in case of a fire but I am a little leery about trying this out.

I’m one of those fire freezer people. I’m 21, so I haven’t accumulated enough to warrant renting a safety deposit box. I just keep my passport, stock certificates, checkbook, and some other things in there. Also if something happens to me my family knows where these papers are, because it’s such an odd place.

“Not only are these methods 100% chemical-free and therefore much easier on your body, but they are also much cheaper solutions than OTC or prescription meds!”

Now obviously nettle tea is not chemical free if it works. It might be a chemical that occurs freely in the environment, but so are toadstools and although they might cure your allergies, I’m afraid the cure might be unpleasantly permanent. Certainly the conclusion that something is easier on your body because it is “natural” is an incorrect implication.

I’d be quite surprised to find that any herbal remedy was cheaper than generic Claritin (i.e. loratidine). That something might work better for some people seems like a more plausible argument. Claritin is only moderately helpful for me. Unfortunately I haven’t found anything that works on my allergies and doesn’t simultaneously make me tired and apathetic.

I can see the benefit of a safety deposit box, but I think a high quality fire proof safe, anchored correctly to the floor (so it isn’t easily stolen), would do just as well. I think the fire proof safe gives you ready access and over time, might save you the cost of a safety deposit box.

Grass. Horrible. Get rid of the stuff. Plant something or spread something on the ground that you don’t have to mow!

Thanks for the discussion about safety deposit boxes. I’ve not bought an allegedly fire-proof safe ’cause everything others have said echoes what commenters here say: get a serious fire going and say good-bye to the documents. But I’ve been too lazy and too cheap to get a safe deposit box. For sure, that’s the next thing to look into!

I once had allergies for a couple years, and one of my best tricks was to wash my hands and face when I knew I’d been around something (e.g. dust) that would set me off. Taking medicine can be a great solution, and I loved Allegra, but just washing your face to clean whatever was in the air and hit your nose does wonders.

OK, this may be a first – this comment has nothing to do with any sort of finance! I am dying to know what you do to your berry canes!

I have raspberries and last year was really the first year they produced, but the canes drooped and we even had berries growing ON the dirt. I know I need to get some sort of structure in place to hold them up but am not sure what. I guess I was thinking of two poles at each end with wire running in between that the canes coudl then be wound through as they grow? (We have the variety that is cut down to the ground after they’re done in the fall.)

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